Rocket Weekly: A Strong Stretch Before the All-Star Break

Laval returned home from the road for a trio of divisional games before the All-Star break, including two against a team close to them in the standings.  They took care of business, winning all three, giving them a six-point lead in the division at the break. 

The Week That Was

Feb. 4: Laval 6, Utica 2 – With the Comets floundering and missing two of their top players, this was a game the Rocket needed to come out strong in.  Mission accomplished on that front as they potted four in the first period and another in the opening minute of the second, chasing starter Jakub Malek in the process.  That was more than enough to coast the rest of the way.  Laurent Dauphin had a three-point game while Marc Del Gaizo and Josh Jacobs added a pair of assists.

Feb. 6: Laval 5, Cleveland 4 (OT) – This was a back-and-forth affair with both teams blowing leads.  A rough start to the second period had Laval down by two but they clawed their way back to tie it.  A long shot from Caleb MacDonald gave Cleveland the lead again in the third but Owen Beck snapped an 18-game goalless drought with a power play marker to tie it again and send it to overtime.  In the extra session, the Rocket had a three-on-one and a tic-tac-toe passing play saw Marc Del Gaizo tip home the winner.

Feb. 7: Laval 4, Cleveland 1 – This game was a much easier one for Laval.  Goals in the sixth minute were big for the Rocket as they had one in the first in that minute and two more in the second when Alex Belzile and Xavier Simoneau scored 21 seconds apart.  Belzile added another power play marker later in the middle frame to ensure it’d be smooth sailing from there.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	SOG	PIMS
2	Marc Del Gaizo	3	1	4	+6	3	2
5	Nathan Clurman	3	0	0	E	2	0
6	Tyler Thorpe	3	1	0	+1	6	0
10	Joshua Roy	3	3	1	+1	11	0
15	Sean Farrell	3	1	0	+1	3	0
17	Alex Tuch	2	0	0	+1	2	5
18	Vincent Arseneau	2	1	0	+1	1	5
19	Samuel Blais	2	0	3	+1	1	0
22	Alex Belzile	3	2	1	+1	8	2
27	Laurent Dauphin	3	1	3	+1	12	4
28	Josh Jacobs	2	0	2	+3	1	0
42	Lucas Condotta	3	0	0	E	5	12
44	Josiah Didier	3	0	1	E	3	0
48	Filip Mesar	3	1	3	E	7	0
49	Jared Davidson	3	1	0	+1	7	7
56	Adam Engstrom	3	0	4	E	4	0
62	Owen Beck	3	1	1	+1	4	0
63	Florian Xhekaj	3	1	2	+3	8	23
64	David Reinbacher	1	0	1	+2	1	4
81	Xavier Simoneau	3	1	1	+2	3	4
84	William Trudeau	3	1	0	-2	8	0

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
1	Jacob Fowler	3-0-0	2.33	.908	0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Alex Belzile (21)
Assists: Laurent Dauphin (39)
Points: Laurent Dauphin (53)
+/-: Laurent Dauphin (+23)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (115)
Shots: Laurent Dauphin (112)

News and Notes

– Laval got a big reinforcement with Samuel Blais making it through waivers and returning to the Rocket.  With Montreal getting healthier, this stint in Laval might be longer than the first one he had back in December.

– The good news for Xavier Simoneau is that his shooting percentage is at 16%, the best of his four-year AHL career.  The bad news is that he has just four goals in 41 games and just 12 points.  For context, he had 21 last season after putting up 38 and 37 in his first two years with the Rocket.

– Josh Jacobs’ two-point game against Utica was his first two-point performance since April 19, 2022, when he played for the Chicago Wolves.

Last Game’s Lines:

Farrell – Dauphin – Belzile
Roy – Beck – Mesar
Blais – Condotta – Simoneau
Arseneau – Xhekaj – Thorpe

Engstrom – Didier
Del Gaizo – Reinbacher
Trudeau – Clurman

The Week Ahead

Three Laval players will be in action at the All-Star Game, beginning Tuesday with the Skills Competition.  They are goalie Jacob Fowler, centre Laurent Dauphin, and defenceman Adam Engstrom.  Meanwhile, the rest of the team will get a few days of rest until the schedule resumes late in the week.

Friday vs Hershey – Often a contender, the Bears have been more of a middle-of-the-pack team this season.  They have two of the top three rookie scorers in the league in Ilya Protas and Andrew Cristall, who also lead Hershey in scoring.  (Quinn Hutson, Lane’s brother, is the top-scoring rookie overall.)  A pair of former Laval defencemen lead the way for the Bears, Louie Belpedio and Corey Schueneman, while goalie Clay Stevenson is back after getting into a few games with Washington.

Saturday vs Toronto – Nothing like two games in 20 hours coming out of the break.  The Marlies have points in eight straight games and are nine points behind Laval with two games in hand, meaning there is certainly some importance to this one.  The Rocket have won two of the three matchups so far with Laurent Dauphin and Alex Tuch leading the way offensively.  Michael Pezzetta recently returned for Toronto after missing nearly a month but is having a pretty quiet season overall with just eight points in 26 games.

Final Thought

One of the signs that a player is ready for a long look in the NHL is when they’re simply dominating the play in the minors.  It’s time to put Adam Engstrom into that category.

Since being sent back from Montreal, he has been top-notch offensively, picking up 14 points in as many games with a couple of game-winning goals.  He’s helping drive Laval’s attack by joining into the rush regularly with good things usually happening.  Defensively, he’s facing a lot of top lines and having success, despite a rotation of partners (including some players on AHL deals).  He’s killing penalties on a regular basis (albeit often on the second wave).  There aren’t any holes in his game right now and his play is more than worthy of a recall.

The problem is that there’s no room for him with the Habs right now.  (Of course, the Canadiens being fully healthy on the back end isn’t a problem overall, it’s just one for him and his NHL hopes.)  But if Engstrom keeps this up much longer, he’s going to force their hand to either make room for him or bring him up when rosters expand.  That is, of course, if he isn’t traded by the deadline next month as there’s no doubt teams will be calling about his availability.  For his second year in the league, Engstrom simply keeps getting better.